Through 20 minutes, the Washington Capitals trail the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 at the end of the first period.
Anthony Stewart put the Hurricanes up 1-0 early at 3:26. Tuomo Ruutu beat Joel Ward on a faceoff in the offensive zone and got the puck to Jeff Skinner. Skinner sent a quick pass to Jay Harrison, who then fired a quick shot from the point. Stewart was able to muscle Jeff Schultz in the slot and get enough of his stick on Harrison's shot to deflect the puck past Neuvirth for his third goal of the season.
The Caps earned the game's first power play of the night at 18:36 when Cam Ward tripped Marcus Johansson. On the ensuing power play, Washington pinned Carolina's penalty killing unit in its own zone and had several great scoring chances, but Ward was up to the task as he stopped several point-blank opportuntiies.
Shots are 15-10 in favor of the Caps.